Atlanta is a city built on reinvention. We stomp out history with new construction like Smokey the Bear stomping out a smoldering cigarette in the forest. Yet when Curbed Atlanta polled you about the $950K contemporary going up in place of a circa-1942 little yellow house in Oakhurst, more of you said it was a "pity" than "progress." How far would you go to preserve the character of your neighborhood? One woman in Raleigh, North Carolina, took her preservationist tendencies to the extreme, managing to halt the construction of her neighbor's house (which was nearly complete at the time) by suing over the home's modern design. The issue has divided the neighborhood and construction is at a standstill until the court date in late August.
Sleek contemporary designs continue to rise on Atlanta streets that have long been populated with 1920s bungalows or 1940s Craftsman homes. Are they adding much-needed variety to Atlanta's neighborhoods or are they eyesores that detract from the historic character of neighborhoods like Oakhurst and the Old Fourth Ward? Historic districts, such as those in Inman Park, Cabbagetown, Castleberry Hills, and West End, to name a few, have their own regulations designed to maintain continuity. Still, what is worse: Allowing modern design into older neighborhoods or building new structures with faux-old features?
Loading comments...